FC speaker: Russia's role essential in Ukrainian settlement

MOSCOW, April 10. /ITAR-TASS/. Speaker of the Federation Council upper house of Russia's parliament Valentina Matviyenko said all the attempts to break the deadlock in Ukraine would not be truly successful without Russia's participation.

"The international community, including Russia, must join the efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis," Matviyenko wrote in her blog on the official FC website on Wednesday. "You cannot count on keeping the country's integrity and restoring its stability without paying attention to the feelings of residents in eastern and southeastern regions of Ukraine and their demands."

"These demands contain nothing that would contradict the spirit and letter of international law, democratic principles, or human rights and freedoms. Most importantly, cooperation and friendship with Russia is natural for residents of these regions where Russian has always been dominant language. These are not just political slogans. They cannot conceive their life without it," the FC speaker wrote.

She emphasized that it would not be possible to normalize the situation in Ukraine in case of failure to realize these aspirations.

Matviyenko regretted the self-proclaimed Kiev authorities' persistent policy to stake on force instead of launching dialogue with the whole Ukrainian society and coming to terms with all regions.

"Nevertheless, I believe it is still possible to stop Ukraine from slipping into chaos. Since Kiev is unable to do it on its own, it is necessary to include in the settlement process the international community: Ukraine, Russia, the USA and the European Union.

"Any attempts to normalize the situation without Russia's involvement will not be truly successful," she added.

Matviyenko reiterated that Russia respected national feelings in Ukraine and its territorial integrity. "We don't want its break-up. On the contrary: Russia is interested in our neighbor's being a strong, consolidated and sovereign state. Therefore, we'll do everything to help the brotherly people overcome the crisis," she said.

The FC speaker expressed the hope that soon, a format of talks will be found to satisfy all the parties. "It is crucial that our western partners see all the complexity of the Ukrainian situation that they do not look at it only through Kiev's eyes or through the prism of their opportunistic interests," she went on.

Matviyenko is counting on the understanding that federalism, guarantees against Russian language discrimination and resistance to extremism and neo-Nazism are not Russia's ruse to derive unilateral benefits, but the aspirations of a considerable portion of Ukraine's population. "Only their fulfillment can really deliver territorial integrity, political stability and national accord to the country," the speaker said.